"Is it? Who is to say? You never entered the _Gordak_; LeClarc met you within the airlock. For all your crew knows, the three of you are out on Ganymede somewhere--with not much air left. After a time, they'll have to give you up as dead. With the Captain gone, and the Exec, and the expert on Extra-terrestrial zoology--their expedition won't amount to much. It looks to me like old man Carmical will be without a circus this year, unless he resorts to a strictly terrestrial shindig." "What happens then?" Teejay wanted to know. "Well, I'll be frank with you. I haven't decided. I can't simply return you to civilization, of course." "Of course," Teejay echoed him acidly. "Then you'd be able to holler 'kidnapper'. It would seem that you give me only one alternative. Ah--excuse me a moment." A trio of men had entered the lounge and the leader, a stocky man of about thirty-five, was beaming. "We've got three," he said. "Splendid, splendid. In that case, nothing remains to keep us on Ganymede." "Chief, I'm sure glad of that. This place can give you the heebies, and you never know why. Those three anthrovacs should be a fine core to build your circus around, though." "Three anthrovacs?" Teejay cried, her composure fading for the first time. "You've got three anthrovacs?" Barling nodded. "LeClarc here was good enough to tell us Stedman's plan. A first-rate idea, as you can see, only we were able to carry it out. Frankly, I wasn't so optimistic at first." "Let's get back to us," Teejay suggested. "You were saying...?" "Umm-mm, yes. There's only one alternative, and much as I regret--" "What is it? What's the alternative?" "Please, must I say it? I think you know, and there's no need for me to--" "No, I want to hear it." "Suit yourself," said Barling. "The only solution is this: we'll have to eliminate you." "When?" "The sooner the better. But Captain Moore, you're making me feel--" "That's all I wanted to know!" Teejay cried, and hurled herself at Barling. "We might as well try to escape while we still have a chance." * * * * * After that, things happened almost too fast for Steve to follow. Kevin got the idea at once, charging at LeClarc before the Frenchman had time to gather his wits. The neutron gun hissed violently, searing a three-inch chunk out of the ceiling. But then LeClarc was struck by two hundred pounds of Kevin McGann, and went down before the onslaught. Something exploded against Steve's jaw and he did a quick flip and landed on his back. He'd hardly had time to declare himself in the battle, when one of Barling's men had jumped him. Now the man came down atop him, flailing with both fists, but Steve chopped at his face with short, clubbing blows and scrambled to his feet while the man caught his breath.